


The Chemistry of Us

by softswag



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 18:56:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11743116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softswag/pseuds/softswag
Summary: Mal and Evie work together on a school project, and then things happen.





	The Chemistry of Us

No one really likes to pair up with them for school projects, even now. Things have gotten better, but they are still the villain kids from the Isle and that means more often than not they end up together when a school project comes up. Though, truth be told, maybe the reason Mal picked Evie for this particular Chemistry project is because Evie is top of their grade at it, and Mal takes nothing but the best. 

Except they kind of forget about it with all the other things going on, being evil and plotting schemes and designing dresses and whatnot. Mal beats herself over it the whole day, fumes and glares at whoever dares as much as look her way.

“It'll be okay! We’ll figure it out.” Evie laughs during their lunch break. They are sitting alone because Carlos was quick to make himself scarce after getting a taste of Mal’s mood, and Jay won't let Carlos eat alone again. “We still have until tomorrow to hand it in. We can finish it tonight.”

Evie has always been the most happy-go-lucky, the most optimistic of them all. It's not like Mal is pessimistic herself, either. It's just that she knows life is - well, rotten.

“You know both the library and the lab are closed at night, right, princess?”

Evie sticks her tongue out at her. Mal used to call her princess when they first met, except back then it was just another way to mock her and Evie had hated it. Mal isn’t sure when it started being her pet name for Evie, but Evie had stopped glaring at her for it at some point, even if she still scowled at anyone else who dared call her that. 

“Nothing a spell can't fix, luckily.” 

“I thought you had told me to give up the Spell Book and quit magic,” Mal says even as she grins, mood lightening at the thought of some mischief. 

“Just this once won't hurt. Pretty please?”

Evie cups her face in her hands, leaning in with her elbows on the table, and blinks prettily at Mal, a perfect example of feminine charm. Mal feigns an exaggerated sigh and rolls her eyes.

“What would you do without me?”

Evie winks and blows her a kiss, lips apple red. “Probably watch you fail this on your own.”

Evie’s laugh is clear and cheerful and Mal does her best act of ignoring it as she looks back down at her lunch. Evie is the only person Mal will ever take this banter from and they are both perfectly aware of it, yet Mal is strangely okay with the situation. 

She makes a show of keeping her bad mood up the whole day and no one bothers them much, because even the teachers know better than to get on the way of Maleficent’s daughter when she is angry.

They still wait until it is late enough that there are little chances of anyone being around before sneaking out of their room. Evie leads the way through the dark corridors, her slippers barely making a sound against the wooden floors. Mal follows closely, and maybe they have been in Auradon for too long because even this sneaking around feels exciting, when back at the Isle there were never rules or curfews to break or care about. 

There are footsteps behind them and both of them halt, hearts pounding madly. “Who’s there?!” Someone calls from the end of the corridor.

Evie turns to look at her, eyes wide. She grabs Mal’s hand and pulls her along as they run through the corridors, no longer caring how much noise they make. It’s a few minutes before they dare to stop and listen, but the school is quiet once again. When Evie turns to look at Mal her eyes are wide with excitement and she’s panting, but there’s a smile on her lips. Evie giggles and Mal can’t help but to laugh too, even as she tries to get her breath back. Evie’s hand doesn’t let go of hers even as they start moving again, and Mal only holds on tighter.

The door to the library is closed, but they weren’t expecting anything else. Mal takes a step to the front and winks at Evie.

“Make it easy, make it quick. Open up without a kick.”

She whispers the spell and the door creaks a little as it opens. Mal pushes into the room as quietly as possible, holding the door open for Evie to sneak in before carefully closing it behind them. It feels strange how quiet and empty everything is around them when they turn the lights on; their steps reverberate in the silence and when Evie giggles it echoes. It takes them both a moment to snap back into it, but then Mal is back into her senses.

“Okay, we better start before someone catches us here.”

Evie nods and immediately starts looking for the books they will need and pulls them out of the shelves. Mal lets her do, because Chemistry is not really her forte anyway. She reads whatever Evie points her to, scribbles down notes on her notebook and tries not to let Evie distract her. It’s not like Evie is trying either, but it’s hard not to look when Evie looks so serious, so focused and smart. Mal has always known Evie was intelligent, of course, but their school subjects at the Isle were so stupid that she had never realized just how intelligent her friend really is. 

Friend. Mal repeats the word to herself, lets it sit in her head for a bit, savors it. She used to hate Evie, a deep irrational hate that had fueled her for years, but they are friends now. It brings a smile to her face, a wave of warmth through her body that catches her by surprise and throws her off. They were allies at the Isle, this whole friendship concept is an Auradon thing and completely new to them, yet Mal suspects friends are not supposed to make you feel the way she feels for Evie, like she would follow her to the end of the world and back.

“What are you staring at?” Evie is looking at her, half curious and half amused, head cocked to the side. Mal flusters and looks back at her notes.

“I don’t understand this part,” she lies, and regrets it immediately as Evie leans in to look at the papers too. Evie’s blue hair falls over her shoulder and her hand brushes against Mal’s cheek as Evie pulls a loose strand behind her ear. Evie smells like sweet apples and vanilla and Mal feels strangely hot around the neck.

“You just have to do it like this,” Evie explains as she scribbles over the paper. “And there you are, solved. It’s easy!”

Mal had just said whatever to change the topic, but now that she looks properly it was quite a complicated equation that Evie has solved like it was nothing. Mal huffs and swats Evie’s hair away.

“Show off.”

“Well, you told me not to play dumb to get the boy.”

Now it’s Evie who’s looking down at her notes as Mal frowns. “There’s no boy here.”

“No.” Evie’s cheeks are flushed red and she’s fumbling around with her pen. Evie is usually so confident and self assured, yet now she barely dares to look up at Mal. “But there's you.”

The silence feels heavy around them, only the rustle of papers as Evie fidgets with them. Mal can almost hear the echoes as she swallows, throat suddenly dry, and she wants to say something because she can see Evie slowly starting to panic, but she doesn't know what. 

“A- anyway, we should finish this…”

Evie’s voice is shaking and it breaks Mal’s heart a little to hear the hurt in it. Evie brushes the back of her hand against the corner of her eye, swiping away tears that are not quite falling yet, and it’s more than Mal can take.

“You don’t need to get me,” she says before she can fully think about the words coming out of her mouth. Evie freezes at her voice. “You don’t need to get me,” Mal repeats in a smaller voice. “You got me already.”

Evie ducks her head and the loose strands of hair she had tucked behind her ear fall again, obscuring her face. Her shoulders shake with a small sob.

“E?” Mal reaches out to tuck the hair away again, gently. “Evie, princess, look at me.”

There are tears on Evie’s cheeks when she finally looks up, and her eyes are wide and wondering, almost scared. Mal cups Evie’s face with her hands and brushes a few tears away with her thumbs. Evie’s skin is soft, and warm, and the touch makes Mal’s fingertips tingle. This is new to her, to them, this way in which her stomach feels like it might turn around inside her, this way in which she could get lost forever in Evie’s eyes if she’s not careful. Evie’s lips are red and plump and so close that Mal can feel the breath of the little sigh that escapes them.

Mal closes the distance between them as she closes her eyes. Evie’s lips are sweet too, and moist, and Mal has never felt anything like this before. But then again, she figures, neither has Evie, whose hands are clinging to Mal’s arms like she will drown without the support. When Mal pulls apart Evie’s hands stay.

“I…” Mal feels stupid and awkward, but Evie just laughs a soft, breathy laugh. There are still tears clinging to the corners of her eyes, but no more fear. She tugs on Mal’s arms to pull her closer and kiss her again, warm and bold and perfect, and it leaves them both a little bit out of breath. Evie rests her forehead against Mal’s.

“I thought it was only me,” Evie whispers with a smile. 

Mal shakes her head softly. She wants to say something, but before she can find the words there’s a noise outside the library and they both freeze.

“Oh,” Evie says, and it’s enough to send them both into a frenzy, quickly clearing their papers off the table. Evie laughs as they run through the corridors again, out of breath and exhilarated, and she doesn’t let go of Mal’s hand until they are back in the safety of their room.

 

They get an earful the following morning when they show up to class with no project to present. Mal rolls her eyes at the teacher’s speech about being responsible and Auradon values, like they are the first students ever to miss a deadline. Mal crosses her arms over her chest with a scowl and tries her best not to look at Evie, because she knows Evie cares much more.

Mal can’t stop thinking about last night, Evie’s teary face and the wonder in her eyes after they kissed. And the kiss. Mal doesn’t even know what had pushed her to kiss Evie, her best friend, and yet it had felt like the right thing to do. But once they had gotten back to their room the moment was lost, and Evie has been quiet and distant since they woke up. Mal is starting to go crazy.

“However here in Auradon,” the teacher goes on, “we believe in second chances.” Mal wants to laugh, but she just raises an eyebrow instead. “You two have until the end of the week to hand me the project. Obviously you won’t get full points, but you may still pass the semester.”

Evie mumbles a quick ‘thank you’ as they are dismissed. This time they go straight to the library, no magic and no tricks. Evie leads the way to a secluded table and immediately starts piling up books on the table. Mal lets her do for a while, but it’s painfully obvious Evie is trying as hard as she can not to look at her, and there’s only so long ignoring the elephant in the room will work. Next time Evie turns away from the shelf Mal takes a step forward to block her way.

“We need to talk, princess.”

“Not now,” Evie says. Her back is pressed against the rows of books and she’s very intently staring at the volumes in her arms. “We need to finish this project.”

Mal ignores her, because it’s easier than arguing with her. She puts both hands against the shelf, arms around Evie. “What was that last night?”

She doesn’t know where this confidence is coming from, when yesterday she could barely find the words, but she knows that the tension between them is killing her inside. She won't let it make them grow apart.

“I don’t know.” Evie’s voice is quiet, but at least she finally dares to look up at Mal. “We kissed.”

“Yeah.” Mal’s eyes dart to Evie’s lips, almost unconsciously, just for a second, and Evie blushes when she notices. “Yeah, we did.”

“What does that… make us?”

“I don’t know,” Mal says. 

There’s no dating in the Isle, no such thing as boyfriends or girlfriends or friends. Mal doesn’t know where they stand now, what to say to make things less awkward. But she knows what she wants to do next.

“I don’t know,” she repeats, “but whatever it is, I would do it again.”

The books Evie is holding dig into Mal’s stomach when she leans in to kiss Evie, but she doesn't care. Evie tilts her head down a little to meet her halfway. It's a bit messy and a bit clumsy, a bit bold and a bit shy. Evie makes a noise, tangles a hand in Mal’s hair to pull her a bit closer, and Mal smiles against Evie’s lips. 

Someone laughs a little too loud in the background and reality comes back around them. Evie’s blushing a beautiful shade of red, and her lipstick is a little bit smudged at the corner of her mouth. Mal’s chest heaving slightly. 

“It’ll be okay,” Mal says, and she knows it’s true even if she doesn’t know how. 

Evie smiles and rests her forehead against Mal’s with a small sigh. Her hand has slid from Mal’s hair to Mal’s waist, and her warmth seems to seep through every layer of Mal’s clothing until Mal feels full with a happiness she doesn't think she has ever felt before.

“It'll be okay,” Mal repeats, watches the almost imperceptible tremble of Evie’s lips. “We’ll figure it out together.”

It's not like Mal doesn't know that life is rotten, but maybe Evie's optimism is rubbing off on her - one kiss at a time.


End file.
